20Twenty Productions – Using creativity to make a difference to young peoples lives

So I was sent away for the weekend to London! Yes thats right! I got to travel to London to meet some of the most amazing, inspiring and friendly young adults I have ever met. Recently I have become a National Ambassador for Clarions Futures in which I work alongside Clarions staff members and the other ambassadors to try and make positive changes within the community.

So on Thursday the 10th I travelled down to London ON MY OWN to meet the other ambassadors and clarions staff. I have never really traveled by myself before so this was a great experience as I would normally never travel alone due to being to frightened or afraid I may get lost. However I was determined to face this fear and I had no problem at all getting to London where I met with everyone else. On the first day we got to introduce ourselves and get to know each other. I instantly knew that this group of young people were amazing. All of us had different ideas and different personalities but all got on so well. Also, on this day we did our first presentations in front of a group of people involved in Clarions in which we introduced ourselves and briefly spoke about why we wanted to be national ambassadors. That evening we stayed in London and this gave all of us new national ambassadors the opportunity to chat and really get to know each other.

On Friday we were in meetings after meetings in which we learnt new things about what Clarions do and how we would be involved in it all. It was so interesting to listen to the different areas Clarions address and I learnt so much. After the meetings we got to do a scavenger hunt. We were given a number of activities to do and complete within the hour. The teams were boys verses girls and OF COURSE us girls won. After all the meetings and running around London we then got to have a 1 and 1 discussion with a Clarions member of staff in which we discussed goals that I personally wished to achieve. We discussed my desire for there to be more creative opportunities for young people to express and find themselves and how we could make this a possibility. After this, not only did we all watch a short movie together and take part in some team games, we all went out to dinner together. The dinner allowed some real bonding time in which we told stories and things about ourselves. It was so interesting to me to learn about these people and we all became really close.

We then stayed in the hotel for one last night and got up bright and early to head to the adventure activity location called Go Ape. This day was great because we all helped each other through the courses and if someone was struggling, one of us was always there to motivate each other.There were some challenging parts, but we all supported one another. It really showed how much of a great team we were and although I just met them all, I’m so grateful to be apart of the team and have created some strong friendships.

I come back from London exhausted but pleased and decide to go to the songwriters event at the March Town Hall in which I not only performed my own original music but got to work with other musicians to create a song. We only had about half hour to create these short songs but I feel that our group worked really well together to create our song called Retro.

Now I’m back in the office and although I am more than happy to be back and working on new things and projects, I do miss being in London with the others as it was just such an unforgettable experience and I am unbelievably grateful to be given the opportunity to be apart of it all. I look forward to all the adventures we have to come and all the grand changes we hope to make.

So this week has just been one of my favourite weeks at 20Twenty so far. It has been so eventful and I have met some amazing people. So lets start from the very beginning of the week. On Monday we had rehearsals for the children that have committed to the Original Music Project. The rehearsals went really well and everyone was extremely focussed.

Then on Tuesday myself, Katherine and some volunteers traveled to LONDON to be part of an amazing workshop hosted by BAC Beatbox Academy. I was a little nervous about joining in at the workshop as the workshop was primarily for beatboxing and rapping, which I can not to. However, every single one of the people at the workshop were so friendly and insisted that I got involved and I got to sing in a way that I have never done before. The experience was truly fantastic and I hope to work with them again in the future.

The excitement doesn’t stop there, I then was given the opportunity to stay in London and meet some of the most motivated and passionate young adults in regards to changes we want within our community. This experience was also like no other and we all learnt a lot off each other.

Thursday I was back in the office, but it was no normal office working day, but then again it never is. The children from the original music project came in to record their three stunning songs that they had created. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves and we will be continuing with the recordings today so that the songs are done and ready.

So that is just a quick look into what my week has been like at work and I can 100 percent say with complete certainty that I have worked with some of the most inspiring and talented people I have ever come across and I am so grateful for all the experiences I have been apart of this week. So with this week over, I prepare myself for net week in which I will be hosting the Easter Workshop this year and I am super excited for it. I will let you know how it goes!

I have been working for 20Twenty for about 7 months now and everyday is more amazing than the next. I love my job because you can never predict what is going to be happening within the day. Weather I’m going to be in the office updating data or being sent to London, I look forward to everyday just the same. Looking back on these 7 months have been amazing and I thought I would just share with you some images of my journey with 20Twenty so far. I look forward to the rest of my journey and all the other unpredictable days to come. I have met some truly remarkable and talented people at 20Twenty and made some great friends. I am constantly learning something new everyday.

Starting my apprenticeship was super nerve-racking for me and I remember being super scared at first but I had a lot of support from the 20Twenty team and I jumped straight into it. Before I knew it I was planning my first project ‘The Winter Wonderland’ and doing things way out of my comfort zone.

Before 20Twenty I didn’t particularly like acting in front of others. I used to do acting at school however my acting was not as good as my singing and dancing abilities which would make me move further away from acting. However, 20Twenty has made me love acting again, I still have a long way to go before I reach the standards I want my acting to be but I don’t feel embarrassed anymore when I am acting. I remember my first couple of weeks at work and I had offered to step into doing a show for Black History Month due to someone not being able to do the performance. With little time to learn lines and learn the blockings for the whole show, I remembered feeling never scared and I felt slightly pressured because I didn’t want to let anyone down. This is because everyone else performing in the show were amazing young actors that had worked together for a long time to create this show. However, everyone was so supportive and appreciative that I wanted to step in and help. That friendly and warm welcoming motivated me to want to act more and I am now part of the Boundless Youth Theatre where I have met some amazing and passionate young people that have made my experience at 20Twenty so amazing and I appreciate every single one of them for happily welcoming me to the team . I have hundreds more amazing memories from these past 7 months but I feel that I have gone on for long enough. So here are some images of just a few moments of my fantastic journey and I am proud to be one of the lucky people that wake up everyone morning excited to go to work!

This half term week has already been filled with rehearsals, acting, dancing, singing, crafting and the week has barely began. On Monday we had an all day rehearsal with our All Stars Youth Theatre, rehearsing for the Pride Rock Show. They received Act 2 of the Pride Rock script and excitedly got straight into it.

If that wasn’t enough, Tuesday we had a full day of rehearsing with our Boundless Youth Theatre for the High School Musical Show. I am happy to say that I have joined boundless and therefore have a part in the High School Musical performance. Yesterday’s rehearsal was very effective and so many laughs were shared between the group.

Now it is Wednesday and also Valentines day! Whereas as most people will be celebrating love, the connections youth theatre group will be rehearsing hard for the first performance of their show ‘When They Go Low’ on the 2nd of March. I will be doing the lighting for this show which I am very excited for but also quite nervous as I am normally the one under the lights, not doing the lights. However I am ready to give it my best shot and fingers crossed everything will go great!

Christmas is over and I am happy to be back at work. We started the first week back at work with a BANG and I hosted a volunteers party for all the staff members and volunteers that have contributed to 20Twenty throughout 2017 and celebrate everyones dedication to the organisation. The volunteer party was lots of fun, especially when the games began. We played Charades, Pictionary, Act it out and so many other games that had proven to be so much fun for all the volunteers. I’m now looking forward to the youth theatre sessions that are starting up again tomorrow and will keep you updated on my journey at 20twenty throughout 2018!

My last day at work until Christmas break!! I had a lovely conversation with my boss today and we were talking about my past 2 months working at 20Twenty productions. I had confessed that I have finally reached the stage at work in which I can efficiently and confidently work individually with no problem and no constant requesting of help due to confusion or even the nervousness of doing something wrong. I believe I have completely adapted to my work and I know what to do and how to do something in any situation I am put in.

Although I’m excited for my Christmas break and for me to stuff my face with so much food, I’m slightly upset that I won’t be at work. This is because I do really love my work and 20Twenty productions has become a huge part of my life. I am one of the very few that loves there job and I know I will miss being in the office and especially the youth theatre sessions. However, I am going to use this break to my advantage and come back in January ready to go

Yesterday I managed my first project for 20Twenty! I was very nervous and excited about the Winter Wonderland workshop as I wanted it to go really well. The results of the workshop were great and better than I was expecting which I am very pleased about. Something I have learnt this weekend about managing this project is that everything isn’t going to go exactly how you have planned but the skill is to just work around the problem. At first, I would feel threatened by any minor issue or incident and would therefore turn to another member of staff for recommendations. However, throughout the event I learnt that I couldn’t keep relying on other people to solve the issues that needed to be faced and I started to make my own decisions which proved to be a good choice.

Overall I had a great time at the Winter Wonderland workshopand I am extremely happy with the results from the event. I can’t wait to start organising and managing my next project.